Comprising papers presented at an international symposium on fuzzy engineering technology, this volume provides information on the current state-of-the-art in the field of fuzzy theories and applications, and their importance in the areas of industry, medicine, artificial intelligence, management, socio-economics, ecology, agriculture, behavioural science and education. The results of recent research of LIFE (Laboratory for International Fuzzy Engineering Research) are also included.

Industrial development is essential to improvement of the standard of living in all countries. People's health and the environment can be affected, directly or indirectly by routine waste discharges or by accidents. A series of recent major industrial accidents and the effect of pollution highlighted, once again, the need for better management of routine and accidental risks. Moreover, the existence of natural hazards complicate even more the situation in any given region. In the past effort to cope with these risks, if made at all, have been largely on a plant by plant basis; some plants are well equipped to manage environmental and health hazards, while others are not. Managing the hazards of modern technological systems has become a key activity in highly industrialised countries. Decision makers are often confronted with complex issues concerning economic and social development, industrialisation and associated infrastructure needs, population and land use planning. Such issues have to be addressed in such a way that ensures that public health will not be disrupted or substantially degraded. Due to the increasing complexity of technological systems and the higher geographical density of punctual hazard sources, new methodologies and a novel approach to these problems are challenging risk managers and regional planers. Risks from these new complex technological systems are inherently different form those addressed by the risk managers for decades ago.

Approximate reasoning is a key motivation in fuzzy sets and possibility theory. This volume provides a coherent view of this field, and its impact on database research and information retrieval. First, the semantic foundations of approximate reasoning are presented. Special emphasis is given to the representation of fuzzy rules and specialized types of approximate reasoning. Then syntactic aspects of approximate reasoning are surveyed and the algebraic underpinnings of fuzzy consequence relations are presented and explained. The second part of the book is devoted to inductive and neuro-fuzzy methods for learning fuzzy rules. It also contains new material on the application of possibility theory to data fusion. The last part of the book surveys the growing literature on fuzzy information systems. Each chapter contains extensive bibliographical material. Fuzzy Sets in Approximate Reasoning and Information Systems is a major source of information for research scholars and graduate students in computer science and artificial intelligence, interested in human information processing.

Readings in Fuzzy Sets for Intelligent Systems is a collection of readings that explore the main facets of fuzzy sets and possibility theory and their use in intelligent systems. Basic notions in fuzzy set theory are discussed, along with fuzzy control and approximate reasoning. Uncertainty and informativeness, information processing, and membership, cognition, neural networks, and learning are also considered. Comprised of eight chapters, this book begins with a historical background on fuzzy sets and possibility theory, citing some forerunners who discussed ideas or formal definitions very close to the basic notions introduced by Lotfi Zadeh (1978). The reader is then introduced to fundamental concepts in fuzzy set theory, including symmetric summation and the setting of fuzzy logic; uncertainty and informativeness; and fuzzy control. Subsequent chapters deal with approximate reasoning; information processing; decision and management sciences; and membership, cognition, neural networks, and learning. Numerical methods for fuzzy clustering are described, and adaptive inference in fuzzy knowledge networks is analyzed. This monograph will be of interest to both students and practitioners in the fields of computer science, information science, applied mathematics, and artificial intelligence.

This volume presents an interesting mix of topics on complex systems such as information systems, engineering systems, fuzzy neural systems, image processing, robotics, fuzzy control, genetic algorithms, and fuzzy decision making. The contributions come from 12 countries, and provide a clear picture of fuzzy logic applications worldwide.

Fuzzy Control Systems explores one of the most active areas of research involving fuzzy set theory. The contributors address basic issues concerning the analysis, design, and application of fuzzy control systems. Divided into three parts, the book first devotes itself to the general theory of fuzzy control systems. The second part deals with a variety of methodologies and algorithms used in the analysis and design of fuzzy controllers. The various paradigms include fuzzy reasoning models, fuzzy neural networks, fuzzy expert systems, and genetic algorithms. The final part considers current applications of fuzzy control systems. This book should be required reading for researchers, practitioners, and students interested in fuzzy control systems, artificial intelligence, and fuzzy sets and systems.

Extensive coverage of both the theory and application of fuzzy logic design.

Since the late 1980s, a large number of very user-friendly tools for fuzzy control, fuzzy expert systems, and fuzzy data analysis have emerged. This has changed the character of this area and started the area of `fuzzy technology'. The next large step in the development occurred in 1992 when almost independently in Europe, Japan and the USA, the three areas of fuzzy technology, artificial neural nets and genetic algorithms joined forces under the title of `computational intelligence' or `soft computing'. The synergies which were possible between these three areas have been exploited very successfully. Practical Applications of Fuzzy Sets focuses on model and real applications of fuzzy sets, and is structured into four major parts: engineering and natural sciences; medicine; management; and behavioral, cognitive and social sciences. This book will be useful for practitioners of fuzzy technology, scientists and students who are looking for applications of their models and methods, for topics of their theses, and even for venture capitalists who look for attractive possibilities for investments.

The 30 coherently written chapters by leading researchers presented in this anthology are devoted to basic results achieved in computational intelligence since 1997. The book provides complete coverage of the core issues in the field, especially in fuzzy logic and control as well as for evolutionary optimization algorithms including genetic programming, in a comprehensive and systematic way. Theoretical and methodological investigations are complemented by prototypic applications for design and management tasks in electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, and chemical engineering. This book will become a valuable source of reference for researchers active in computational intelligence. Advanced students and professionals interested in learning about and applying advanced techniques of computational intelligence will appreciate the book as a useful guide enhanced by numerous examples and applications in a variety of fields.

Soft Computing has emerged as an important approach towards achieving intelligent computational paradigms where key elements are learning from experience in the presence of uncertainties, fuzzy belief functioos, and ·evolutioo of the computing strategies of the learning agent itself. Fuzzy, neural and evolutionary computing are the three major themes of soft computing. The book presents original research papers dealing with the theory of soft computing and its applicatioos in engineering design and manufacturing. The methodologies have been applied to a large variety of real life problems. Applicatioo of soft computing has provided the opportunity to integrate human like 'vagueness' and real life 'uncertainty' to an otherwise 'hard' computer programme. Now, a computer programme can learn, adapt, and evolve using soft computing. The book identifies the strengths and Iimitatioos of soft cOOlputing techniques, particularly with reference to their engineering applications. The applications range fran design optimisatioo to scheduling and image analysis. Goal optimisatioo with incomplete infmnatioo and under uncertainty is the key to solving real-life problems in design and manufacturing. Soft computing techniques presented in this book address these issues. Computatiooal complexity and efficient implementatioo of these techniques are also major concerns for realising useful industrial applications of soft computing. The different parts in the book also address these issues. The book cootains 9 parts, 8 of which are based 00 papers fran the '2nd On-line World Conference 00 Soft Computing in Engineering Design and Manufacture (WSC2),.